Dilbert joins Universal Uclick

Kansas City, MO (December 28, 2010) – Another comics giant is making the move to Universal Uclick, and this time it’s the funny pages’ most famous office drone!

Universal Uclick has announced an agreement that brings Scott Adams’ Dilbert, one of the world’s most well known and widely syndicated comic strip franchises, into the lineup of the world’s largest independent syndication company. Through an agreement with Adams, Universal Uclick will syndicate Dilbert in print, online and on mobile devices.

The Dilbert agreement comes on the heels of the October announcement that Charles Schulz’s classic Peanuts strip has moved to the Kansas City-based syndication company, joining a lineup that in the company’s 40-year history has included such world-renowned comic strips as Doonesbury, Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, Garfield, For Better or For Worse, Cathy and Ziggy.

“It feels as if Dilbert got a promotion. Universal Uclick is the industry leader, and I’m delighted to be able to work with them,” said Scott Adams.

“It is with great pride that we welcome Scott Adams and Dilbert to the Universal Uclick family,” said John McMeel, founder, chairman and president of Andrews McMeel Universal, parent company of Universal Uclick. “Dilbert is one of the most well-known, beloved and thriving comic strips in print and online, with millions of readers worldwide. We’re honored to be bringing Dilbert to the same syndicate that has represented the giants of this industry.”

“The new partnership between Dilbert and Universal Uclick is a landmark moment for Andrews McMeel Universal and is a positive statement on the vitality of the comics industry as a whole,” said Hugh Andrews, president and CEO of Andrews McMeel Publishing. “Our unique ability to offer worldwide mobile, print and online syndication and licensing through Universal Uclick, as well as print publication in the form of books, calendars and more through Andrews McMeel Publishing, makes Andrews McMeel Universal a one-stop syndication and publication partner.”

Universal Uclick will begin management of Dilbert.com on January 1, 2011 and will begin print syndication in early summer.

“Universal Uclick is a pioneering syndicate, both in the features we offer and in the way we deliver them to audiences worldwide,” said McMeel. “We’ve taken a very proactive approach, seeking out the best features and employing our every resource to make them available to readers everywhere, in print, online and on mobile devices. It’s this ground-breaking and innovative approach syndication that makes Universal Uclick a perfect match for the incredibly talented creators we represent.”

Andrews McMeel Publishing, which regularly publishes Dilbert collections and calendars, will continue its ongoing relationship with the feature. The company published an oversized hardcover retrospective of Dilbert in 2008, entitled “Dilbert 2.0: 20 Years of Dilbert.” The massive, 600-page tome includes nearly 4,000 Dilbert strips and a disc containing every Dilbert strip up to April 2008.

Dilbert, by Scott Adams, is a syndication powerhouse renowned for its uncanny grasp of modern working life and office politics. The strip is currently carried by more than 2,000 print publications worldwide and has spawned more than 30 print collections, an animated TV series and a loyal community of fans at Dilbert.com. Dilbert is represented by Peanuts Worldwide, LLC.

For more information on Universal Uclick, visit www.UniversalUclick.com.

About Universal Uclick

Universal Uclick is the largest independent syndicate in the world and a leading digital entertainment provider of humor, comic strips, editorial cartoons, and other content for print, desktop, web and mobile phones. Universal Uclick provides editorial development, licensing and other distribution services for major brands like Doonesbury, Dear Abby and some of the most significant comics in history including Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, Garfield, For Better or For Worse, Cathy, and Ziggy as well as recent hits Lio, Cul de Sac and The Argyle Sweater. Universal Uclick is a division of Andrews McMeel Universal, the leading publisher of humor books and calendars in North America.

About Dilbert

Dilbert is the most downloaded, e-mailed and posted comic strip in the world. Many readers, particularly those employed at large corporations, are convinced that Adams works at their companies since he conveys corporate inanities so perfectly in his comic strip.